Kellerbier

American Golden Ale 1.057 -- 1.007 33 IBU -- 6.5% ABV

Cask Conditioned Kellerbier 1.046 -- 1.004 25 IBU -- 5.5% ABV

Ugly American 1.046* - 1.006 37 IBU -- 5.2% ABV

Main Mash:

The Malts:
16 pilsner
3 munich
1 carapils

Hops: (main mash)
2oz Spalt (5.6%AA) -- 60 min
2oz Hallertauer (3% AA) -- 30 min
1oz Hallertauer (3.8% AA) 15 min
2oz Saaz (3.1% AA) 15 min
1 oz Sterling (5.7% AA) 1 min

The Mash:
20lbs of grain (arrpox 67 degrees)
First infusion (protein rest) 5 gallons (133 degrees) -- 30 minutes (122 degrees)
Second infusion (sacc rest) 2.25 gallons (boiling) -- 60 minutes (146 degrees)
Third infusion (mash out)  4.3 gallons (boiling) -- 10 minutes (168 degrees)

Total infusion volume: 11.55 gallons
Absorption: 2.5 gallons
4.95 gallons sparge water necessary for pre-boil volume of 14 gallons

Mini-Mash:

The Malts (and adjuncts)

2.5 lbs 6 Row
2.5 lbs Flaked Maize

Hops:
.75 oz Cluster (8%AA) -- 60 minutes
1oz Sterling (7.5%AA) -- 1 min

The Mini - Mash:
5 pounds grain (approx 67 degrees)
First infusion (protein rest) -- 1.62 gallons (130 degrees) -- 30 minutes (122 degrees)
Second infusion (sacc rest) -- 0.7 gallons (boiling) -- 60 minutes (146 degrees)
Third infusion (mash out) -- 1.35 gallons (boiling) -- 10 minutes (168 degrees)

Total infusion volume: 3.67 gallons
Absorption: .63 gallons
1 gallon sparge water necessary

Mash Process:

1. First infusion main mash
2. Second infusion main mash
3. First infusion mini mash
4. Second infusion mini mash
5. Third infusion main mash
6. Run off main mash
7. Sparge main mash / vorlauf / run off
8. Third infusion mini mash
9. Run off mini mash
10. Sparge mini mash / vorlauf / run off

I will run off fourteen gallons pre-boil instead of the usual thirteen since this wort will get split three ways, and I want to ensure there is enough wort to go around.




10 gallons post-boil
-----------
5 in fermenter #1: kellerbier (1.050) to be kegged;
4 in fermenter #2 + 1 gallon  water: (1.050 + 1 gal = 1.040) kellerbier for cask


-----------
Fermenter #3:
2  gal from main mash, (1.050)
3 gal from mini-mash (maize and six-row) (1.050)


Reflections on Brewday: Everything went great with the exception of a couple rouge hop flowers that clogged the kettle bulk head. Once those were cleared out, things went smoothly and the chiller worked the way it should. I am seriously considering buying a hop taco or a false bottom for the kettle so to avoid this issue, which has been my biggest pain lately.

Wort collection was not what I expected. I ended up with around thirteen gallons instead of the fifteen I had planned for. I think I boiled off too much of the corn / 6 row mash, and might have had the same thing happen with the main wort, so I do not know what percent of this beer is corn / 6 row. I added a gallon of water to what was later named Ugly American, and the resulting gravity was 1.037. I had to check it the next day because I broke my hydrometer. I used Promash's dilution calculator and then boiled up a 1.080 gallon of wort using light golden DME to add to the rest which should result in a wort that is 1.046. I pitched the yeast before adding the extra wort because it had not cooled enough. I figure that is for the best anyhow because the yeast should be more active 24 hours from now when I can add the wort.

Notes:
1.23.12 -- Chinese New Year (Year of the Dragon) -- Pitched yeast into all beers.

American Golden Ale Notes:
2.13.12 -- Gravity at 1.007 . Sample tastes sweet and then balanced. This will improve with dry-hopping, and I will do this 2-3 weeks before I keg it.


Cask-Conditioned Kellerbier Notes:
2.4.12 -- Gravity reads 1.004 which seems very low. This makes me think the original gravity was a bit lower than I calculated. Otherwise, this beer is around 91% attenuated -- very unlikely. The good news is that it tastes very good (has good bitterness and flavor/aroma from the hops).
2.16.12 -- Dry hopped with 1oz Saaz.
3.2.12 -- Put Kellerbier in cask along with 4.25 oz dextrose (condition to 2.5 volumes), gelatin finings, and champagne yeast.

Ugly American Notes:
2.4.12 -- Gravity reads 1.006, and the flavor is considerably different than the to-be cask conditioned beer. Both the malt character (it has corn and two row and golden extract in addition to the other grain bill) as well as the hop profile are quite different (it has cluster, and was also finished with sterling (the mini-mash)). I do not even know where to begin calculating IBUs for this beer, though I feel it is in the same neighborhood as the others .
 

1911 Boston Rustler

1911 Boston Rustler 

1.051 -- 1.012 -- 5.1% ABV

38 IBU 

My go at Classic American Pilsner using American Ale yeast at a low temperature.  This will also be a bit of a diversion since I am only brewing five gallons, and I am doing it inside.  If this method works well, I may do this a little more often in between cranking up the big brewery.  I would like for this to become a way to make smaller, perhaps historical batches.

I chose the name based on the Braves namesake of that particular year, as well as to commemorate the centennial of such.  2011 also marks what I believe to be the centennial of our home.  I was conflicted with the option of naming the beer "Red CAP" since the Red Caps were the original name of the Braves, and CAP for obvious reasons, but I did not want one to expect a red beer.  I may end up using that name later, as I do like it very much, and it lends itself to telling the story of how the Red Sox stole the eventual Braves name.

Recipe here:

https://sites.google.com/site/themerkinfiles/Home/cap

Everything about the recipe is accurate with the exception of the IBUs.  I will collect about 4.6 gallons pre-boil, and then will dillute with purified water post-boil.  The gravity of the actual boil will diminish the hop utilization level by a few points.

Reflections on Brewday:
Brewing inside was a nice change, but it still took almost as long.  I need to remember what a pain in the ass whole hops can be, even when I am not using a plate chiller.  Next time I do this, I will use hop bags or the spider-type strainer I made.  This would have helped make wort collection easier.  Chilling was the highpoint -- much faster than normal, which I attribute to chilling a much smaller volume (4 gallons) and then diluting it with bottled water.

1911 Boston Rustler Notes:
12.30.11 -- pitched yeast
1.15.12 -- Gravity reads 1.012 (76% attenuated -- calling it done)

Rudy Lycanthrope / Lunar Eclipse Wheat

Lunar Eclipse Wheat -- 1.050 -- 1.012 -- 5% ABV

Rudy Lycanthrope -- 1.050

19 IBU

The idea here is to make something of which half can be soured, and the other half can be ready relatively soon.  What we get is a Flanders-ish sour sort-of red beer and a reddish wheat beer.  I am not comfortable calling this beer red anything until I see it in a glass, as red is a hard color to nail down.

The Malts:

12 lbs Wheat Malt
3 lbs Munich Malt
3 lbs Caravienne Malt
3 lbs Aromatic Malt

Hops:

3oz Hallertauer  (3.8% AA)-- 60 minutes

Yeast:
Lunar Eclipse -- Wyeast 3068
Rudy Lycanthrope -- S-04 then buggs

Water:
10.5 gallons strike water
2.6 absorbed
5 gallons sparge water + additions for decoction boil-off

The Mash:
Here's the plan: Initial protein rest will be at 122 degrees. After twenty minutes, I will pull a large (about a third of the mash) decoction and heat it to 155. I will hold it there with a lid and a sleeping bag for about fifteen minutes before bringing to a boil. At that point I will add the decoction to the main mash until the saccrification temperature of 146. This rest will be held for one hour, and then another smaller decoction will be pulled and boiled to bring the mash to mash-out temperature (around 170).

Brew Day Reflections:
Everything went great great until it was time to use the chiller.  I had become pretty careless to use the pot I used for decoctions to add either the sparge water or some of the first runnings into the kettle.  Shit got clogged.  Bad.  I abandoned the chiller and went old-school with the immersion chiller, that I am glad that I still have to use as my pre-chiller.  Also, this batch will prove whether or not Star-San is harmful since I forgot that I had packed the chiller with it after my last brew about a month ago, so when I turned it on to sanitize (it wasn't clogged at this point), and about a pint became integrated with the wort in the kettle -- and I was sober too. 

12.11.11 -- Pitched yeast into both beers

Lunar Eclipse Notes:

12.29.11 -- Gravity reads 1.012. Kegged.

Rudy Lycanthrope Notes:

12.21.11 -- racked into a secondary and dosed with bugs from Dirty Blonde, Gueuze Tilquin and Wiezen Bam, as well as the dregs from one bottle of Orval.  Gravity was 1.014.

Rauch-N-Wiener

Rauch-N-Weiner

1.050 --1.013 -- 4.8% ABV

30 IBU

13 lbs Vienna

3.50 lbs Rauchmalt

1.5 lbs 40L Crystal

.5 lbs Carapils

3.5 oz Hallertauer (3.8% AA) -- 60 min

Safale 34/70 Dry Lager Yeast

Mash -- The Plan:

The initial protein rest will be at 122, where I will hold it for twenty minutes.  Pull first decoction (1/2 - 1/3), heat to 155, let sit for fifteen minutes in sleeping bag, then boil for about ten minutes.  Add this in until temp is around 146.  Hold for one hour.  Pull another decoction to raise the temp to mash out -- 170.

Strike Water (2qt/lb) -- 9.25 gallons
Absorption -- 2.3 gallons
Sparge Water needed -- 6.3 gallons ( a litte added to replace decoction boil-offs)

Brewday Notes:
Mash:
122 for 20 min before pulling decoction. Added back around 20 minutes later to hit 146. Down to 143 after 30 minutes, so I pulled another decoction in hopes of getting it to around 155 before mashing out.

It got it to 150. Holding for fifteen minutes before adding boiling water to get to mash out temp. 

Brewday Reflections:

Things went pretty well with the exception of the chilling taking longer than I thought it should.  I figured to shave time off with the addition of a ball-cock valve to slow the flow of wort.

The mash was also a little different than I planned, as evidenced in the notes above.  It was more like:

20 min -- 122
pulled decoction
heated decoction to around 155
let sit for 15 minutes
boilded decoction
added it to main mash, which raised the temp to 144-45 -- 30 minutes
pulled another decoction and boiled
added it back to bring mash to 150 -- fifteen minutes
added boiling water (from sparge supply) to raise it to around 160 -- ten minutes

Notes:

11.8.11 -- Pitched Yeast
11.11.11 -- Noticeable Activity (ambient temperature has been 53-55) (Fermenting all ten gallons in two corny kegs -- a first for a whole batch.)
11.23.11 -- 1.013 -- Diacetyl rest begun
11.27.11 -- still around 1.013 -- racked into clean kegs to begin lagering

Over - Under Burton Ale / Burton Jr.

Over - Under Burton Ale -- 100 IBU --1.083 -- 1.018 -- 8.5% ABV
Old Over - Under Burton Ale 100 IBU -- 1.083 --
Burton Jr. -- 30 IBU -- 1.072 -- 1.019 -- 7% ABV

Brewed this with David Little, another member of ALEZ as part of a competition. The winner will recreate the beer to be aged in a barrel that the club plans to buy.

I learned a lot about adding gravity points, refractionometer calibration, as well as diluting today. I think we did it all to prevent others from replicating our beer by wrapping our secrets in mystery that may seem like errors or confusion to the untrained eye.

Over - Under:

Malts: 
29 Lbs Marris Otter
2 lbs Brown Malt
7.5 lbs Dry Malt Extract

Hops:
12 oz EKG (5% AA) -- 60 minutes

Yeast:
2 packages Windsor
2 packages Nottingham

Little Burton-ish : http://dl.dropbox.com/u/32890299/small-beer.pdf

Burton Jr.  Notes:

10.8.11 -- Gravity down to 1.023 in six days.  Still has a way to go, but I just wanted to see.
10.23.11 -- Gravity at 1.019 (74% attenuation), but still may not be finished since it has been cool (started in low to mid 60s, then allowed to naturally rise after a week, but the weather has been cool, so it has stayed in the low to mid 60s with the exception of a day or two when it got closer to 70).  Beer is pretty balanced and straightforward without the yeasty presence many British ales have -- the flavor contribution from the Citra addition is interesting as well.
11.5.11 -- Bottled at around 2 volumes.

Old Over - Under Burton Ale Notes: 

11.26.11 -- Picked up half the batch of Over - Under Burton Ale from David.  Now I am waking up a culture of Brett B to add to the beer.  Once that does its thing for a few months, I will add oak cubes and then the dry hops.  I look to bottle this in the summer.
11.30.11 -- Added about a pint brett B starter after it showed life.

Irish Curse Ale

O.G. 1.053 -- F.G. 1.014 -- 5.1% ABV

23 IBU

The Malts:
15 golden promise
2 munich II
1.5 40L crystal
.5 roasted barley
.5 carapils

The Hops:
2 oz EKG 5% -- 60 min
1 oz EKG 5% 30

Efficiency -- 84%
7.29.11 -- Pitching SA-04 today. Ambient temperatures around 63, which is as high as I would like it to get. This will be a challenge.
8.3.11 -- Gravity at 1.023. I have done well at keeping the ambient temperature between 59-63 for the most part (hall box spiked to 68 today). Hydrometer sample tasted very clean, and I feel I am out of the danger zone, but I will still keep it cool.

8.11.11 -- 1.017

8.20.11 -- 1.014 kegged (green keg for storage) laundry room cool box. Sample tasted damn good (roasty, smooth, malty)
9.10.11 -- The bucket of Irish Curse from the hall is on tap and very good. The cool fermentation worked very well to make a beer that is very clean tasting with a hint of roastiness. The color is a bit dark, but we shall see if that lightens up a little as the keg settles out more.

Don Juan Saison 2011

Don Juan Saison '11

1.063 -- 1.009 -- 7% ABV
1.063 --

27 IBU

I've tweaked this recipe a little since the last time, which should not even matter since it seems that so much went awry last time I made Saison that it is not good baseline data -- though the beer was very good.

This go-round

10# Pils
3# Wheat Malt
3# Rye Malt
3# Munich
3# piloncillo (in boil)

2.75 Styrian Goldings (5.4%) -- 60 minutes
1 EKG (4.5%) -- 15 min (with whirlfloc)
1 Saaz (3.1%) -- 1 min



I used the following mash schedule, and things worked well:

30 min @ 122

60 min @ 140

20 min @ 158

5 min @ 168



Notes:



7.5.11 -- Pitched yeast in both beers. Hall fermenter a tad warmer. Both temps in mid 60s.
7.13.11 -- Fermenters spent three days at 62-65 ambient (bucket in laundry room / sleeping bag cool box -- carboy in hall cool box). The laundry room one did spike to 72 ambient on one of the first nights. They then spent three more days at 75-80 ambient, and then were placed upstairs where ambient is 90+. Gravity down to 1.010 (bucket /started in laundry room). I later checked the carboy, and it was exactly the same.



7.18.11 -- Gravity at 1.009. I am glad it is still moving a little since the temperatures have been much lower than normal for this time of year. Upstairs has hovered around 80 ambient instead of the 90+ which is normal.


Funky Don Juan Notes:


7.22.11 -- still at 1.009. The chosen half (actually closer to 4 gal) is getting funked with the dregs of a bottle of Goose Island Matilda 2010, and then dry hopped with an ounce of Saaz.
8.28.11 -- Racked to secondary -- 1.005.
12.20.11 -- Gravity at 1.004. Not as funky as last year's (at this point).  I may need to add more sugars so the brett can have something to eat.
12.24.11 -- added .5 pound malto-dextrine.  I did not recalculate the gravity, but I suppose this added about two extra points.  I will wait until the gravity re stabilizes before bottling (no hurry).
1.29.12 -- Gravity reads 1.002, which means the brett chewed through the malto-detrine pretty well. Funk us still subdued, which means I am already seeing the difference between adding the brett post terminal and along with the original yeast.  I am still going to wait for this to stabilize, and to also to see if the funk increases before I bottle. I am also thinking of culturing up some more brett to add at bottling.
3.4.12 -- Gravity 1.001. Brett more noticeable, but still more subdued than last year's example. Looking to bottle this next week.

Tasting Paterweizen

Appearance: Somewhere between dark gold and copper. Head is good, but could be a little more. It helps to give a little foam squirt on top of these for good measure.

Smell: Very faint esters from the yeast (banana and clove), and the faintess is due to the lower fermentation temps in the cool box (no warmer than 72, but usually below 69).

Taste: Yeast notes start and then are followed by a malty finish that was not in my last hefewizen. I attribute this note to the use of Weyermans Abbey Malt in the place of Pilsner since Blockader was out (the truck with the Pilsner malt rolled up as I was picking up my grain bag to leave). I like the finish on this beer since the last hefe I brewed with Pilsner malt since that one seemed very empty in the finish, and that was the one knock on it. Both are low-gravity beers (1.045-6) and having the help of the Abbey Malt improved that. In short, I will do this again.

Mouthfeel -- Carbontated well and light - bodied.

Overall -- I was originally disappointed at the o.g. of this beer, but I have come to be glad of it. I need to make more session beers, especially for the summer.

Meg Wit

Meg Wit

1.058 -- 1.014 -- 5.76% ABV

Fermentables:
8.5 lbs flaked wheat (pregelatinized)
8 lbs Pilsener
2.5 lbs six row
1 lb flaked oats
1.25 lbs acidulated malt

Hops:
2.5 oz Hallertaur (4.8%) 60 min

Spices:
1 oz Bitter Orange Peel (5 min)
2 oz crushed Indian Coriander seeds (5 min)
1 oz Bitter Orange Peel (Flameout)
2 Chamomile Tea Bags (Flameout)

The Mash:

4 Gallons Strike water (Protein Rest Infusion) -- 122 degrees -- 30 min
2.88 Gallon infusion (sacc rest) -- 154 degrees -- 60 min
2.64 gallon infusion (mash out) -- 168 degrees -- 10 min

Total Mash Water -- 9.52 gallons
2.65 gallons absorbed
5.63 gallons of sparge water to make a total of 12.5 preboil
(slightly less than normal due to slower boil for witbier)

Brewday Notes:

6.6.11

Things went very well until I forgot to sanitize the pump. This probably happened since I forgot to use my hop screen earlier. having to go old school with the immersion chiller
first round of oranges and all the coriander boiled for five minutes and then removed and put aside.
Pump boiled for ten extra minutes.
Second round of oranges and the tea added along with the previously steeped at flame out.
1.054 at 90 degrees

The Yeast

Each will get about a half gallon starter of Wyeast 1214 collected from Belgian Summer Ale.

Notes:

6.7.11 -- Pitched yeast
6.13.11 -- Gravity reads 1.018 (sleeping bag cool box) I stopped switching the ice out last night to allow the fermentation to warm a little.

6.24.11 -- Gravity 1.014 -- 76% attenuated. I expected a little more by now. I am going to let it go more since it has not been two weeks yet. Sample tastes nice.

6.30.11 -- Gravity stable at 1.014 (laundry room fermenter; I have not checked the hall one. It will be interesting to see if there are any differences). Will keg soon. Edit: hall version exactly the same.
7.14.11 -- TASTING MEG WIT:

Appearance: Very appropriate for a Wit -- a hazy straw yellow that shows off the whiteness of its namesake. Head starts fluffy and then settles down to a lace.
Smell: First scents are of yeasty esters and phenols, but grain and orange/coriander are also perceptible.
Taste: A nice blend of yeast, sourness, and spice. This is not as clean tasting as other wits, nor is it as spicy. I was going for a more historic example, and I think this fits. The yeast flavor goes well with the spices and makes for a peppery sensation while the chamomile works well with the unmalted grains to lay down a nice bass note. A slight hop bitterness in the beginning, but then it yields to the orange, coriander, and chamomile. Others in A.L.E.Z. detected a rubbery flavor, but I honestly cannot find it. I have entered this beer in a competition in Jacksonville, FL, and I am interested to see if the judges have the same thing to say.
Mouthfeel: The unmalted grain lends to the mouthfeel well here. The beer is not heavy, but there is a velvety quality to it. Carbonation adds well to this, and also helps showcase the spicy flavors.
Overall: I think I have done well here. As I alluded to earlier, I am a fan of the rustic nature of this beer, and the concerns about the amount of acidulated malt I used have been all but assuaged. Like I also said earlier, if I were to make another witbier, I would not make changes. I am happy with this one, and I am anxious to see if the certified judges have similar sentiments.

Patersweizen / Belgian Summer Ale

Paterweizen -- 1.044 - 1.013 -- 4.1% ABV
Summer Abbey Ale -- 1.047 - 1.006 -- 5.4% ABV
66% efficiency

This was originally going to be another batch of El Jefe, but Blockader was out of Pilsener malt. I substituted something new, Abbey malt in its place:



The Malts:


10 lbs Wheat malt


5 lbs Vienna malt


4 lbs Pilsener Malt


Belgian Summer Ale: add 1lb sugar


The Hops:


2 oz Hallertauer (3.9%AA -- 60 minutes)


Abbey Ale: add 1oz Styrian Goldings (5.4%) -- 15 minutes


The Yeast:


Paterweizen -- Weinhenstephaner Hefeweizen


Belgian Summer Ale -- Wyeast 1214


Reflections on Brewday: My efficiency sucks 66%. I don't know if it is the fact that I am using wheat (I remembered the rice hulls this time even), or something else I am doing. Everything else went great. The scrubby was really slowing me down; I think I saved at least 90 minutes taking it off.


Paterweizen Notes:

5.29.11 -- Gravity at 1.013 -- kegged

Belgian Summer Ale Notes:

5.29.11 -- Gravity at 1.011 -- Racked into secondary with culture of Brett B and 1 oz medium toast French oak chips

7.7.11 -- Gravity down to 1.009. Seems to have a little way to go, though the Brett flavor as well as the wood is starting to show through.

9.26.11 - 1.005 wood and Brett are tasting good. Will check again I. A few weeks to see if it is stable.

10.18.11 -- reading 1.006 - 1.007. I can't imagine it going up, so I am calling this stable and ready to bottle.  Brett aroma is really there.  The beer is really dried out, and maybe a bit thin.  Wood flavor is nice, but one-dementional (I am going to start using cubes.).  Overall this is going to be a good summer beer.

10.25.11 -- Bottled at around 4 volumes CO2